Saturday, March 18, 2017

Ayahuasca

Three DRAWINGS DOWN, fourTEEN MORE TO GO!!

(For this year)

The moment I discovered what Ayahuasca was, I became fascinated. The search to learn more about this foreign medicine led me to different websites and YouTube videos, where I stumbled upon people's testimonials and documented trips in Peru. For example: http://www.kirasalak.com/Peru.html

Ayahuasca is an Amazonian plant mixture that is capable of inducing altered states of consciousness. Ranging from mildly stimulating to extremely visionary, Ayahuasca is used primarily as a medicine, typically in a ceremonial session under the guidance of an experienced drinker.

The main ingredient of this jungle tea is a vine, Banisteriopsis caapi, which like the tea itself is also called Ayahuasca (which means ‘vine of the soul’). The secondary ingredient is either chacruna (Psychotria viridis) or chagropanga (Diplopterys cabrerana), plants that contain a relatively high amount of the psychedelic substance DMT.

Upon ingesting, the medicine purges the body through vomiting and purifies the mind through the psychological experiences or visions. Although not unique to Ayahuasca, there are many fascinating reports about people who have been healed from comprehensive problems, like addiction or depression. Ayahuasca brings unconscious and seemingly other-worldly processes to the surface, which enables you to work with it while the effects last.

The primary ingredient of chacruna and chagropanga is a neurotransmitter found in every human being and plays a key role in all kinds of extraordinary states of awareness. This neurotransmitter is called dimethyltryptamine, or DMT for short and is found in the brain, blood, lungs and other parts of the human body. There is strong evidence pointing towards the pineal gland (located in the center of the brain), as the main factory of human DMT. Apart from human beings, DMT can be found in every mammal and in a variety of plants, like Ayahuasca.

Basically, every time you go to sleep, a part of your brain produces this chemical and the product that we endure is our dreams. DMT is the drug which causes your dreams at night. How cool is that?!

This is why I felt compelled to transition into my next drawing, which is titled DMT.

I feel like my brain is moving faster than it ever has before and I need to write all these scattered thoughts down, so I can see it in a physical format and proceed in a more focused manner.

So I decided my next step is to create a YouTube channel!! I'm officially going to begin filming myself as I draw, from here on out. I'm so excited to use this new platform, as a way to connect with new people and get some more exposure. Speaking of exposure, my brother has basically become my Advisor and he told me to boost my FaceBook photos. I initially was going to invest in a scanner, printer and Photoshop, but realized very quickly that I'm getting ahead of myself and that's not the wisest decision to make at this point. Instead, I boosted each drawing from The Consciousness Series for 48 hours and specifically chose the audience that would see each piece, based on other pages they like on FB. For example, when boosting Mushroom Forest, I targeted every person who likes Alice in Wonderland and psilocybin mushrooms (amongst other things). The promotions ended last night and I got very good feedback. I ended up spending $75 ($5 on each drawing) and didn't get any sales, but I know why. This test run revealed A LOT, simply through the people's reactions. I'm going to heavily promote the drawings that got the best feedback.

But before I do that, I have a few things I need to change/fix. These are the things which I believe, didn't create any sales over the last two days.

Landing Page

Sales Copy

Lack of Promoting

I'm changing my landing page, which is currently Etsy. Etsy forces the buyer to create an account in order to purchase an item from a shop. That's a MAJOR sales killer. So instead, I'll be creating a shop to buy prints directly on my website. Plus, this will look more professional. Next, I'm going to add sales copies on each of my drawings, to engage with my audience. I'm in the midst of writing one for each of the drawings and explaining what each piece means/represents to me, why I was inspired to create it, how I thought of it, etc. There's a story behind each piece, which gives it significance and value, extending beyond the visual.The more deeply people connect with my art and what it stands for, the greater the chances they'll want to make it a part of their lives. Rather than purchasing all the equipment I listed above, I'm going to continue photographing my art using my DSLR camera and I bought Pixelmator to use as my photo editing software.

Once I finish creating my new landing page and sales copies, I'm going to continue promoting. Once I hit 1,000 likes on my Page, I'm going to hold a contest. I'm going to engage my followers (as a way to celebrate my 1K), by asking everyone to share their favorite piece from the Series and once the contest ends, I'm going to randomly chose a winner and ship them the print they shared. :)
I'm just trying to balance all of this out. Filming, drawing, learning how to work Pixelmator, my camera, YouTube, work, blogging consistently, yoga, meal prepping, marketing research, posting to social media daily, meeting my deadlines, etc.

Lately I've been telling myself to just relax and enjoy this beautiful process. I'm in the middle of a massive change and I know my life is about to catapult into greatness. #LevelUp

I created a separate album on my computer of all of my blooper moments from our photoshoots. I also love this one :) She's perfect.

Here's the story behind dragonflies: I've always thought dragonflies were magical creatures. I find them to be so mystical and unEarthly. As if they inhabit another realm or dimension, but found a way onto our planet and decided to stay.

Thanks GC! I have exciting news to share soon! Have a wonderful week love

Welcome!

I'm a kid at heart, figuring out life and having epiphanies along the way. This blog documents my journey over the past seven years, as I grow from the shy, closeted guy I once was, into a complete badass. Website: jeremymannino.com